With the abrupt end of the college basketball season on Monday night and the slow roll out of the baseball campaign, it appears Arkansas football coach Bobby Petrino picked the perfect time to slide his Harley Davidson into the ditch while quite possibly taking his career along with it.

When Petrino took Jessica Dorrell for a ride on his motorcycle, who knew it was going to wind up as a biggest kernel of grist for the gossip mill. Scribes and bloggers from Hollywood to Harlem have jumped on the bandwagon to talk about the peccadillo that has captured the attention of Razorbacks Nation along with the hearts and minds of a sports-starved country.

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Following are a few of the comments from bloggers and columnists nationwide.

Chris Low, ESPN.com "Much will be made about the "previous inappropriate relationship" Petrino speaks of and the fact that Dorrell was out riding the countryside with him.

"But the two biggest factors working against Petrino are, No. 1, that he wasn't truthful with his superiors about the accident and lied about it publicly, and No. 2, that Dorrell was somebody who was hired to work under Petrino in the football office. If a "previous inappropriate relationship" with Petrino did indeed lead to her hiring, that's bad news for everybody involved. "

Mark Bradley, AJC.com "In sum: Petrino has long been a selfish jerk, but people keep hiring him because he wins. When it comes to coaches, administrators tend to develop cognitive dissonance: 'Hes a jerk, but hes a winning jerk.'

"Long has pledged to conduct a review, but lets note again: This AD hired Petrino, baggage and all, and has seen him win 21 games over the past two seasons. Were about to see if Petrino, his belatedly admitted indiscretion aside, can deploy his won-lost record as the ultimate defense. Were about to see if a bad guy gets to keep his job just because hes a good coach."

Deadspin.com: Ozark Chappaquiddick

Bud Elliott, SBNation.com "Though potentially damaging to his reputation and the University of Arkansas, the suspension of Bobby Petrino isn't likely to have a huge impact on recruiting. Petrino has never been much of a recruiter. His 2012 recruiting class was a major disappointment, as the Razorbacks' head man followed up two consecutive major bowl season with a recruiting class that failed to crack the top-25 and missed on three tremendous receivers in Courtney Gardner, Dorial Green-Beckham and Zac Brooks, the top player in Arkansas."

Pat Forde, YahooSports.com "Will the Pig People treat one power-abusing coach the same way they treated another one five years ago? Will they mount another vigilante campaign to obtain his phone records to see how many times he called a woman who was not his wife? Will they not stop until the man is ready to flee his job leading the Razorbacks?

"In other words, will Bobby Petrino in 2012 be a slow-roasted Hog the same way Houston Nutt was in 2007?"

Erick Smith, USAToday.com "Trust issues could be a big hurdle for the coach. He famously left the Atlanta Falcons with three games left in his first season to take the Arkansas job and left a note in the locker room to explain his decision.

"It's also the same coach that interviewed secretly with Auburn while he was with Louisville ... behind the back of Tommy Tuberville, who was formerly his boss.

"This was all before he lied Tuesday at his press conference and to Long about Dorrell being with him at the time of his accident."

Andy Staples, SI.com "To be clear, Petrino is most certainly not the only coach in America who has stepped out on his wife. The affair isn't the reason Long placed Petrino on paid administrative leave Thursday night.

"This is why: It appears the highest-paid state employee in Arkansas hired his mistress to a department job. Later, he lied to his boss, in turn allowing the department to release the lie and appear -- at least for a moment -- complicit in the cover-up. (Which it was not.)"